The Official Soccer Basher Thread, Part Deux.

Discussion in 'Business and Media' started by geordienation, May 27, 2006.

  1. HSEUPASSION

    HSEUPASSION New Member

    Apr 16, 2005
    Duck, NC
    He's obviously picked soccer as a mask to hide his real point. He hates hispanics. Judging from his tone, he might as well just have said "Lets kick those ********in' **************** out.....they stole our jobs".

    Sad that this is allowed to be printer in a publication not named "The National Vanguard".

    I'm sure when Lacrosse gains popularity he'll have a peice masked as lacrosse bashing with hidden lines about Native Americans killing those brave white fighters.
     
  2. ross from st paul

    ross from st paul New Member

    Sep 13, 2001
    gold river, CA
    Club:
    Queens Park Rangers FC
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    No, he hasn't dug his grave. He wrote the same kind of column in 94, the day after Bora "went for penalties" against Brazil...and it was difficult to argue the "boring" part, that day.
    Since immigration wasn't the style at the time, he stuck mostly to fan violence and soccer fans around here not being able to speak English, if I remember correctly.

    So, now he's re-hashing that column, and sprinkling in some provocative fodder about immigration, since it's a right wing talking point, and this is the Twin Cities' right wing paper. Who cares?

    monster's right: he's disliked here on many fronts. I suspect he's writing more and more incendiary stuff because he's losing more and more people who actually bother to read his column.
     
  3. ross from st paul

    ross from st paul New Member

    Sep 13, 2001
    gold river, CA
    Club:
    Queens Park Rangers FC
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Well, I understand your point, but trust me, that ain't it.

    He likes to yank chains for the sake of yanking chains. Looks like it's working, and as previous posters have pointed out, the attention just adds to his delusional crap.

    He has as much inherent intelligence as styrofoam. Getting whipped up over him is pointless. Since I came to that conclusion, my life has been much more pleasant.

    (And another thing to please trust me on: it's not like he's some demagogic type who stokes anti-immigint-Nordic-Minnesota whities into a frenzy. He's a joke. Contrary to apparent popular opinion, there isn't a greater percentage of easily-duped morons in Minnesota than there is anywhere else.)
     
  4. HSEUPASSION

    HSEUPASSION New Member

    Apr 16, 2005
    Duck, NC
    Growing up with immigrants it offended me. He basically said all hispanics are illegals by saying agents should be dispatched to all areas with high viewing rates.

    I saw legal hispanics work 12 and 14 hour days to feed their families, and these were guys who loved America as much as you or I do.

    It just pisses me off this this would get printed. I know his point is to yank on people's chain. But I stand by my point that he's no better than those who write for the National Vanguard.
     
  5. okcomputer

    okcomputer Member

    Jun 25, 2003
    dc
    I agree. Soccer bashing articles usually don't get to me. I always think the writer usually comes off as pathetic but this one I thought crossed the line. He used soccer as a mask to push own anti-hispanic agenda. The fact that it was even published is worse.
     
  6. OldFanatic

    OldFanatic Member

    Jan 12, 2004
    Bay Area
    Club:
    San Jose Earthquakes
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    That would have been classic soccer bashing - not a valid reason for getting someone fired based on incendiary statements. (Although some others here would debate me on that statement. I'm not in that "chicken little, sky is falling" category.)

    Who cared when Jimmy the Greek and Rush Limbaugh used racist statements to show off their ignorance?

    This thing he has written today is more than just "soccer is a boring sport with no scoring and has rioting" soccer bashing 101.
     
  7. Beau Dure

    Beau Dure Member+

    May 31, 2000
    Vienna, VA
    Yeah, this is far beyond Jim Rome territory. I'm amazed that someone published this.
     
  8. bostonsoccermdl

    bostonsoccermdl Moderator
    Staff Member

    Apr 3, 2002
    Denver, CO
    posibly one of the most spitefull, and ignorant articles I have seen. Dont know where to start. Better yet, just throw it in the trash heap with all the other neanderthal artilces and move on. Aint worth the time debunking all the strawmen invloved.

    Lets these guys die in their pasture.... His hatred is evident and he cant even back it up better than Jim Rome.

    Truly sad yet funny.
     
  9. ross from st paul

    ross from st paul New Member

    Sep 13, 2001
    gold river, CA
    Club:
    Queens Park Rangers FC
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Agreed. I'm just of the "seen that a thousand times before" mindset.
    He's a joke. We ignore him. I mean, a useless racist gasbag like Fred Phelps somehow manages to influence about 90 people in Topeka, KS.

    I'd wager far fewer than that here take anything Powers writes serioulsy.
    I'm not trying to discount how pissed off you are. I am, too.

    I'm only trying to say giving this wastrel too much stock is energy poorly-spent.

    OK, alright, I accept that.

    I hate the guy. I always have. His lack of talent makes him cross lines all the time (did you know that ALL Minnesota Vikings are boat-hopping black rapists?).

    The paper in question has decided to continue employing him. A letter in that regard, especially given the new owner/publisher, might hold sway.

    Writing in particular to Powers, or the sports editor, is fruitless. All you'd be doing is stoking his ego, and convincing the sports editor that they're on the money. It's like paging Fox News.


    One more example: Powers once implied that the reason the U of MN Gopher football team perennially sucks is because of Title IX!

    HE FRIGGIN' PRE-DATES THE FLANNY PLAYBOOK!

    Jeez, ain't that proof enough?

    Finally, all I'd ask is that you not judge this whole area by one sub-moron. There're lots of sane folks out here.
     
  10. OldFanatic

    OldFanatic Member

    Jan 12, 2004
    Bay Area
    Club:
    San Jose Earthquakes
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Contact info for the editors of this paper is on this page:

    http://www.twincities.com/mld/twincities/contact_us/contact_list/newspaper_staff_np1/

    There is actually contact info for the lowlife who wrote it on this page (email, phone, and also email on the inflammatory page itself). I don't think it is a good idea to communicate with the lowlife at all. He has demonstrated himself to be below any level of dignity.

    I do think there is merit in bomarding his editors, however. Simply stating "who cares" for such an egregious behavior is apathetic. This trash should have never seen the light of day. His editors should retract that article and issue an official apology.
     
  11. OldFanatic

    OldFanatic Member

    Jan 12, 2004
    Bay Area
    Club:
    San Jose Earthquakes
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Are you serious? He has said all these things and managed to keep his job? Aren't there things like civil lawsuits over there?

    As far as I can see in this thread, nobody is saying anything bad about that area based on this article.
     
  12. Dr. Wankler

    Dr. Wankler Member+

    May 2, 2001
    The Electric City
    Club:
    Chicago Fire
    Throwing hissy fits because someone makes fun of soccer is immature and silly. It makes soccer fans look like whiny prigs.

    This article, however, is racist -- nothing borderline about it, IMO. Write in to his editors and complain about that.
     
  13. Dr. Wankler

    Dr. Wankler Member+

    May 2, 2001
    The Electric City
    Club:
    Chicago Fire
    IN fact, here's something I never thought I would write seriously on bigsoccer, for I consider the following the most frightening words you can possibly see on these boards, but...

    here is the letter I wrote to his editors:

    Dear editors:

    The xenophobic, if not racist, opening two paragraphs of Mr. Powers' semi-literate diatribe should have embarrassed his editors enough so that his rant (at least that part of his rant) never saw the light of day. That such an embarrassingly provincial and ignorant commentary came out in the St. Paul Pioneer Press only tells me that the paper has fallen on hard times since I left Minnesota in 1991.

    Soccer happens to be my favorite sport, followed closely by baseball. Having been born and raised in the United States, I was thus confused by his infantile claim that, "no one who actually is from here cares about the most over-hyped, mind-numbingly boring event in the world." Well, I do care, and the only thing I find mind-numbingly boring are the soccer-bashing articles that reach a crescendo every four years about this time. I can't be bothered to read them, and certainly not to respond to them. However, that Mr. Powers uses his dislike of soccer (and apparently all things he sees as "foreign") as an excuse to engage in anti-immigrant bigotry in a newspaper I used to read on a daily basis, is something I find deeply disturbing. Such is not something I would expect in what was once a quality newspaper.

    My Real Name
    My Home Town, PA
     
  14. DoctorJones24

    DoctorJones24 Member

    Aug 26, 1999
    OH
    The editors at the Toledo Blade have joined the act. Did they dust this off from 1986? Jesus, too bad. It's generally one of the last great American newspapers.

    http://www.toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060606/OPINION02/606060319/-1/OPINION
     
  15. vmax71

    vmax71 BigSoccer Supporter

    Apr 11, 2002
    high desert
    Club:
    Los Angeles Galaxy
    Nat'l Team:
    United States

    After 5 years on big soccer, I did a first today. I wrote a letter to the EDITOR of the paper, not the writer, complaining about the article.
     
  16. dieselboy77

    dieselboy77 New Member

    Mar 21, 2005
    Ashtabula, Ohio
    Club:
    Feyenoord
    Nat'l Team:
    Netherlands
    So i wrote an e-mail to this guy who wrote this article in the Minnesotta newspaper

    i told him " Thanks for the mindless soccerbashing, but you keep saying the same bs what has been said since the 1970's. Change the cd becouse your bashing is outdated " lol
     
  17. vmax71

    vmax71 BigSoccer Supporter

    Apr 11, 2002
    high desert
    Club:
    Los Angeles Galaxy
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    I got a response from the editor of the paper. My letter and response:



    Dear MY REAL NAME:

    I'm sorry that Tom Powers' column upset you. That's obviously not our goal with readers. I fail to see, however, how Powers' column was "racist...at its core" as you contest. It was a column about not liking soccer and about how soccer has failed to become a major sport in the United States, despite repeated attempts to push and market the sport. The reference to illegal immigrants, to me, was clearly an attempt at broad sarcasm, or parody. I didn't believe that readers would think Powers was serious about using the World Cup to enforce any illegal immigration crackdown.

    All this said, I apologize if the column left that impression. Tom Powers is not a racist; nor does the Pioneer Press espouse such views.

    Thanks very much for the feedback. I will keep it in mind. Thom






    Dear Sir:

    As the son of two immigrants and an immigrant myself ( I moved to US when I was 2 years old), I was appaled and frightened by the article by Tom Powers: Maybe non-fans do know soccer.

    It's one thing to not like a sport but this was a racist article at its core and the writer of the article used soccer to spread a very racist message. I would suspect your paper would conform to values different from this individual. I personally do not feel that censure is enough and would suggest dismissing the indiviual from your paper.

    Regards

    MY REAL NAME
     
  18. dieselboy77

    dieselboy77 New Member

    Mar 21, 2005
    Ashtabula, Ohio
    Club:
    Feyenoord
    Nat'l Team:
    Netherlands
    Re: So i wrote an e-mail to this guy who wrote this article in the Minnesotta newspap

    ok here is the Article he wrote



    Maybe non-fans do know soccer
    If the government really is serious about identifying illegal immigrants, it soon will be provided a unique opportunity to record their whereabouts.

    All the Department of Homeland Security has to do is monitor the city-by-city television ratings of this month's World Cup soccer tournament. Agents should be dispatched to any area in which the ratings reflect an unnaturally high level of interest. That likely signals a concentrated pocket of illegals.

    No one who actually is from here cares about the most over-hyped, mind-numbingly boring event in the world. Nevertheless, ABC and ESPN will combine to broadcast all 64 games live and in high definition starting on Friday. High definition means that over the course of a 90-minute contest, both scoring chances can be viewed with crystal clarity.

    Link to columnist's story here
     
  19. dieselboy77

    dieselboy77 New Member

    Mar 21, 2005
    Ashtabula, Ohio
    Club:
    Feyenoord
    Nat'l Team:
    Netherlands
    Re: So i wrote an e-mail to this guy who wrote this article in the Minnesotta newspaper

    I just wrote to the newspaper saying that he offended me with the racist comment
     
  20. The Blind Pig

    The Blind Pig Member

    Jul 14, 2005
    Section 8
    Re: So i wrote an e-mail to this guy who wrote this article in the Minnesotta newspaper

    you know the rules


    do not quote entire articles that are copy-righted
     
  21. mookhead

    mookhead New Member

    Jul 14, 2005
    Metro Chicago
    Club:
    SSC Napoli
    Re: So i wrote an e-mail to this guy who wrote this article in the Minnesotta newspaper

    What an A$$. This is why Americans get a bad name over sea's. When we travel to other countries we have to hide the fact that we are American because of guy's like this. Clearly this guy did not make his high school (American)football team and his daddy took it out on him w/a belt. Either that or he was beat up by an soccer player. I wonder how guy's like this make it into the field of writing with out having any eduction?
     
  22. RichardL

    RichardL BigSoccer Supporter

    May 2, 2001
    Berkshire
    Club:
    Reading FC
    Nat'l Team:
    England
    Re: So i wrote an e-mail to this guy who wrote this article in the Minnesotta newspaper

    To be quite honest you might as well have written an email to a guy saying he prefers coffee to tea and try to convince him that tea is really better.
     
  23. dieselboy77

    dieselboy77 New Member

    Mar 21, 2005
    Ashtabula, Ohio
    Club:
    Feyenoord
    Nat'l Team:
    Netherlands
    Re: So i wrote an e-mail to this guy who wrote this article in the Minnesotta newspaper

    Sorry but i had to break it down somehow to explain why he is stupid lol
     
  24. joxash

    joxash New Member

    Apr 29, 2005
    Waco
    Re: So i wrote an e-mail to this guy who wrote this article in the Minnesotta newspaper

    Okay DieselBoy, here is my suggestion:

    Community activism 101

    Post the name of the newspaper, the author, and if you can find it the email for the publisher. Forget emailing the author, you can lead a whore to culture but you can't make it think.

    Then email the publisher stating what you think about these obviously rascist views. Also mention you are forwarding your email as well as a copy of the article to every Hispanic and African American advocacy group you can find in the state of Minnesota. You might also mention that Sweden is in the world cup and his readers might be interested to find out that any citizen of Swedish ancestory is an "illegal".

    But most of all share the details with us so we can join in.

    Oh and if you are feeling really industrious ask about Minnesota's NHL team.

    Waco Joe
     

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